1 Kings 12:4

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2 So it happened, when ^aJeroboam the son of Nebat heard it (he was still in ^bEgypt, for he had fled from the presence of King Solomon and had been dwelling in Egypt ),

3 that they sent and called him. Then Jeroboam and the whole assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying,

4 “Your father made our ^ayoke heavy; now therefore, lighten the burdensome service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.”

5 So he said to them, “Depart for three days, then come back to me.” And the people departed.

6 Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who stood before his father Solomon while he still lived, and he said, “How do you advise me to answer these people?”

7 And they spoke to him, saying, ^a“If you will be a servant to these people today, and serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.”

8 But he rejected the advice which the elders had given him, and consulted the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him.

9 And he said to them, “What advice do you give? How should we answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us’?”

10 Then the young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you should speak to this people who have spoken to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter on us’—thus you shall say to them: ‘My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s waist!

Commentaries:

Barnes' Notes

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1 Kings 12:4

The complaint was probably twofold. The Israelites no doubt complained in part of the heavy weight of taxation laid upon them for the maintenance of the monarch and his court I Kings 4:19-23. But their chief grievance was the forced labor to which they had been subjected I Kings 5:13-14; I Kings 11:28. Forced labor has been among the causes leading to insurrection in many ages and countries. It helped to bring about the French Revolution, and it was for many years one of the principal grievances of the Russian serfs. Jeroboam' s position as superintendent of the forced labors of the tribe of Ephraim I Kings 11:28 revealed to him the large amount of dissatisfaction which Solomon' s system had produced, and his contemplated rebellion in Solomon' s reign may have been connected with this standing grievance.

**Other Barnes' Notes entries containing 1 Kings 12:4:**

1 Samuel 8:14-18
1 Kings 5:13
Isaiah 9:4
Hosea 8:4
Micah 3:10

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